Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 12
Results 16 to 19 of 19

Thread: Rob Cosman Offset Method of Cutting Dovetail Pins

  1. #16
    I don’t know who first discovered this technique, nor do I think it really matters. But Rob first started discussing his results with this technique not during the pandemic, but over ten years ago. He played with it on his subscription channel at least 2-3 years before releasing the commercial DVD in 2014.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  2. #17
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Longview WA
    Posts
    27,347
    Blog Entries
    1
    Quote Originally Posted by J. Greg Jones View Post
    I don’t know who first discovered this technique, nor do I think it really matters. [edited]
    It was probably discovered by the first person to cut dovetails and realized the mark was not in the waste but in the area of the pin that was to be retained.

    Many likely understood this and cut to the waste side of the line. Then along came those who figured a few tools and a bit of salesmanship could make them some money.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  3. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Koepke View Post
    It was probably discovered by the first person to cut dovetails and realized the mark was not in the waste but in the area of the pin that was to be retained.

    Many likely understood this and cut to the waste side of the line. Then along came those who figured a few tools and a bit of salesmanship could make them some money.

    jtk

    +1
    Just as I said earlier. Who came up with it and who marketed it are two different things.
    There are many "routine" techniques I've used over the years that I don't really give much thought to. It's funny to see them in a magazine as some sort of "tip" or "trick" or a'"a new way to blank". It's just nonsense. Everyone has their own methods of work, not all of them need to be marketed IMO
    Not everything warrants the title of "new technique" or needs to be over explained as if it were some sort of revelation.

    Even if RC released his method in 2014, that's still over 100 years later than George Ellis put it in his book. How long was it in use before GE wrote it down, I wonder?
    A dovetail is a simple joint that has been in continuous use for a couple of thousand years, there really isn't much new, other than finding new ways to argue about them.

  4. #19
    Join Date
    Mar 2019
    Location
    Los Angeles, California
    Posts
    961
    I have George Ellis's book, and the dovetail section is surprisingly quite short, and he only mentions half of Rob's technique, cutting the tails without removing waste, then placing the tail piece on the pin board to mark the pins using the kerf. There is no offset mentioned, but I only read a few pages staring at page 67 and it could be buried elsewhere.
    Regards,

    Tom

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •